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Listen to the sounds of the forest from the comfort of your home and realize the numerous health benefits!

In the midst of the pandemic, there are celebrations this week.

I tried and tried to write about racial justice today, about the agony of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (and so many others). I tried to write about the importance of the demonstrations, protests and marches sweeping Manchester, sweeping Connecticut, sweeping the United States and the whole world.

I am not a person of faith—I am an atheist. But these days I am trying to find comfort in the following prayer: God, grant me the serenity… Read More!

I work with teenagers and I live with teenagers. These days I talk with young people on Zoom and by phone every day, and – like all of us – they are OVER this pandemic.

Enjoy a vintage stroll Downtown with these jigsaw puzzles of 1950s photos by Sinch Ofiara!

Yesterday was windy and cold — really, this is MAY???!! — and I just wanted to stay inside. Of course, I had no place to go. No driving my kid to school, no going into work. Enough food in the house. Movies are closed. Can’t visit friends.

I sometimes wish there were a thermometer I could just stick in my mouth – or my husband’s mouth, or my kids’ – that could easily read their mental health. Especially these days; there is fear, there is stress, there is sadness – are we mentally healthy?

During this difficult time we find ourselves reaching out to family and friends more than ever. When we are directed to maintain physical distance, naturally we desperately search for ways to connect digitally.

In February, my younger son, Gus, went to school at Cheney Tech one day, and was pulled out of class for a cap and gown fitting. “Some ‘fitting’,” he chuckled that night. “I wrote down my own height and weight, and gave them thirty-five dollars.” I wonder if he’ll be getting a refund.

How do you support young children and their mental health through this tremendously different and unusual time? The first thought that comes to mind is having empathy, or understanding how they are feeling and responding appropriately. But what if your child is too young to really
understand their emotions, where do you start then?

I was never a little girl who dreamed of horses or cooed over cats or begged for a puppy. But a couple of years ago, a little gray stray cat needed temporary shelter before a blizzard.